Planar G2 curve design with spiral segments

Spiral segments are useful in the design of fair curves. Recent work demonstrated the composition of G(2) curves from planar cubic and Pythagorean hodograph quintic spiral segments. Practical cases that arise in the use of such spiral segments for computer-aided design are now explored. This paper describes an extension to additional cases of the technique far drawing with Bezier spiral segments that match the position, tangent and curvature of the end of another segment, to additional cases. The advantage of this technique is its control of the curvature and inflection points of a designed curve. The benefit of using such curves in the design of surfaces, in particular surfaces of revolution and swept surfaces, is the control of unwanted flat spots and undulations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.